The present invention relates to truck transmission cooling system and, more particularly, to a transmission-mountable transmission cooler kit, the transmission cooler being adapted to mount directly to the transmission via a power take-off aperture provided by the transmission. The present invention also embodies a method of manufacturing and installing the transmission-mountable cooler kit.
The more work done by a truck transmission, the hotter it gets, and heat is an enemy of the transmission. An aftermarket transmission cooler can keep the transmission from getting too hot, facilitating optimal performance and a longer life out of the transmission.
Traditionally, fluid heated by the transmission flows to the cooler, and air moving over the fins of the cooler cools the fluid, which is then routed back to the transmission in a continuous loop through the return line. Installing a transmission cooler, however, may require special fittings just for the connection of the rubber hoses going to and coming from the transmission cooler in-line with the transmission's return line and the transmission cooler.
As can be seen, there is a need for a transmission-mountable cooler kit, wherein the transmission-mountable cooler is adapted to mount directly to the transmission via a power take-off aperture provided by the transmission, so that a cost-effective method of manufacturing and installing may be taken advantage of. Power Take-Offs (PTOs) are mechanical gearboxes that attach to PTO apertures provided on truck transmissions and are used to transfer the power of the vehicle engine to auxiliary components, most commonly a hydraulic pump. By providing a method of mounting the transmission-mountable cooler via the PTO aperture, the present invention enables a method of manufacturing and installing transmission-mountable transmission coolers that simplify and thereby lowers the cost of coupling a cooler to a truck transmission. Mainly, by obviating the need for a loop line and its associated special fasteners and replace them with a solution involving less parts wherein the replacement parts utilize Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standardized fastener elements. In other words, the transmission-mountable cooler kit of the present invention amounts to producing an extension for 6 bolt SAE PTO covers found on manual truck transmissions. Furthermore, the method of installing and manufacturing involve similarly processes involved in manufacturing and installing PTO covers—through affordable, well-established practices of extrusion and tool and die making. In contrast, die casting and CNC machining and other methods are not as cost effective as the method disclosed above of manufacturing and mounting the embodied heat-dissipating transmission cooler as, in effect, a PTO cover extension. The transmission cooler may fit manual truck transmissions through matching the bolt pattern of the SAE PTO covers typically found on manual truck transmissions.